African Americans (also referred to as Afro-Americans or Black Americans) in France are people of
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
heritage or black people from the United States who are or have become residents or citizens of France. This includes students and temporary workers.
France has historically been described as a "haven" for African Americans, having officially declared itself a colorblind society following the abolition of slavery in 1794.
African Americans have migrated to France since the 19th century, often to escape the prevalent racism in the United States. The emergence of WWI and the subsequent rise of jazz in France laid the foundations for bustling African American community, and opened doors for black performers, writers, and artists. France does not collect information about race or ethnicity in their census, making it impossible to gauge how many Africans Americans are currently in France. Recent years have brought calls for a racial awakening in France, and a resurgence of black pride under the ideology of "
négritude
''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...
."
Migration
Colonial Era
African Americans, who are largely descended from
Africans of the
American Colonial Era
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
, have lived and worked in France since the 1800s. This first mass migration of African Americans to France occurred as a result of the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
of 1803. When the French territory was transferred to America, many free black Americans moved to France to escape the apartheid state. Unofficial estimates put this figure at nearly 50,000 free black individuals.
World War I and the Interwar Period
Paris saw the beginnings of an African American community in the aftermath of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, during which roughly 200,000 African American soldiers were brought over, most for non-combat duties. Nine-tenths of the soldiers were from the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
.
The 369th Infantry Regiment of New York, better known as the
Harlem Hellfighters
The 369th Infantry Regiment, originally formed as the 15th New York National Guard Regiment before being re-organized as the 369th upon federalization and commonly referred to as the Harlem Hellfighters, was an infantry regiment of the New Y ...
, were the first to arrive in France in 1917. One member, Sergeant Henry Johnson, was the first American Soldier to be awarded the
Croix de guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
with palm by the French Army.
Many black GIs decided to stay in France after having been well received by the French, and others followed them.
France was viewed by many African Americans as a welcome change from the widespread
racism in the United States
Racism in the United States comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in the United States, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and ...
.
It was then that
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
was introduced to the French, and black culture was born in Paris. African American musicians, artists and writer (many associated with the
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
) found 1920s Paris ready to embrace them with open arms. France represented a golden opportunity for many jazz musicians to escape not only racism, but also growing competition from oversaturation in the American jazz scene.
Entertainers such as
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...
,
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
, and
Eugene Bullard
Eugene Jacques Bullard (born Eugene James Bullard; October 9, 1895 – October 12, 1961) was one of the first black American military pilots, although Bullard flew for France, not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilo ...
are among those who experienced great success after moving to France in the 20's.
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
became the center of the small community, with jazz clubs such as Le Grand Duc, Chez Florence, and Bricktop's thriving in Paris. Often referred to as "Les Années Folles" (or the Crazy Years), 1920's France hosted a small but significant number of African Americans, and represented an era of black American cultural appreciation.
World War II
The
Nazi German
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
invasion of Paris in June 1940 led to the suppression of the "corrupt" influence of jazz in the French capital and the danger of imprisonment for African Americans choosing to remain in the city. Most Americans, black as well as white, left Paris at the time. Following World War II, the arrival of black immigrants from
former French colonies
A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature.
A former may become an integral part of the f ...
had offered African Americans in France the chance to experience new forms of black culture.
The period after WWII brought hundreds of black Americans to Paris, including prominent American writers such as
Richard Wright and
James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...
, and a new generation of jazz musicians.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the political upheavals surrounding the
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
and the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
protests in the United States were mirrored by civil unrest in France. The African American journalist
William Gardner Smith
William Gardner Smith (February 6, 1927 – November 5, 1974) was an American journalist, novelist, and editor. Smith is linked to the black social protest novel tradition of the 1940s and the 1950s, a movement that became synonymous with writ ...
was a novelist (''
Last of the Conquerors
''Last of the Conquerors'' is the 1948 debut novel by African-American journalist and editor William Gardner Smith.Weik von Mossner, Alexa. "Last of the Conquerors". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 August 200accessed 20 September 2 ...
'') who worked for
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...
. The French news service reported the events of the student uprising during the
May 1968 protests. Many black residents supported the movement, which escalated into a virtual shutdown of the entire country. Once order was restored, however, a notable increase in repressive tendencies was observed in the French police and the immigration authorities.
Contemporary Era
While it is illegal to collect data concerning race or ethnicity in France, immigration wave research suggest there are between 3 and 5 million blacks currently in the country.
France remains a hub for African American intellectuals and creatives. Rapper
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
is one such example, establishing roots in the French fashion and music scene. His song "
Niggas in Paris
"Niggas in Paris" ( edited for radio as "In Paris" or simply "Paris"; censored on the album as "Ni**as in Paris") is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album ''Watch the Throne'' (2011). The song is built ar ...
" featuring
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
, was inspired by his time in France and later used in a campaign commercial by the former French president,
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
.
Culture
In the 1920s many Parisians became fascinated with Africa and black individuals, due to a growing social interest in
primitivism
Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...
and sensuality.
For this reason, most Black Americans at the time were performers, often finding it difficult to obtain other forms of employment given their foreigner status. Langston Hughes writes about his own struggles with finding employment during his time in France in his autobiography, ''
The Big Sea
''The Big Sea'' (1940) is an autobiographical work by Langston Hughes. In it, he tells his experience of being a writer of color in Paris, France, and his experiences living in New York, where he faced injustices surrounding systematic racism ...
.'' The
Algerian War
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
also had a significant impact on French African American culture, largely because it changed people's perspectives on the "colorblindness" of France. Influential writers such as William Gardner Smith (''The Stone Face'') and James Baldwin ("Alas, Poor Richard") brought attention to the ways France mistreated its colonial subjects, and how this mistreatment was similar to the bigotry black Americans had faced in the States.
These works bolstered calls for discourse about race and diaspora as France moved into the 21st century.
Race discourse remains a taboo in France, but events in the US such as
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's election and the
murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
have prompted the race discussion. In the summer of 2020,
hundreds of thousand residents protested racism and police brutality in the streets of France. There has been a resurgence of the ideology of "
negritude" among the younger generations, often exemplified through their art and music.
Interpretation
Tyler Stovall, a history professor at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, has said:
In many ways, African Americans came to France as a sort of privileged minority, a kind of model minority, if you will—a group that benefited not only from French fascination with blackness, but a French fascination about Americanness. Although their numbers never exceeded a few thousand.
The Conseil Représentatif des Associations Noires (CRAN) has stated:
Figures on nationalities are allowed but a black immigrant becoming French will disappear from statistics... Based on data from immigration waves researchers have come to say there may be 3 to 5 million blacks in France.
African Americans in France make up a minority of the French population, and are not represented in statistical data. French universalism and a historical fascination with black American culture have made them into what Tyler Stovall calls a "model minority."
Notable figures
*
J. Alexander, model
*
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...
, entertainer and actress
*
Longineu W. Parsons III
*
Mickey Baker
MacHouston "Mickey" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012) was an American guitarist, best known for his work as a studio musician and as part of the recording duo Mickey & Sylvia.
Early life
Baker was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His m ...
, influential guitarist in rock and roll, and rhythm and blues
*
James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...
, author and essayist
*
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...
, jazz musician
*
Arthur Briggs, jazz musician
*
Eugene Bullard
Eugene Jacques Bullard (born Eugene James Bullard; October 9, 1895 – October 12, 1961) was one of the first black American military pilots, although Bullard flew for France, not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilo ...
, world's first Black military pilot
*
Barbara Chase-Riboud
Barbara Chase-Riboud (born June 26, 1939) is an American visual artist and sculptor, bestselling novelist, and award-winning poet.
After becoming established as a sculptor and poet, Chase-Riboud gained widespread recognition as an author for he ...
, novelist, poet, sculptor and visual artist
*
Kenny Clarke
Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...
, jazz musician
*
Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman (January 26, 1892April 30, 1926) was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license. She earned her license from the '' Fédération Aéronautique In ...
, First African-American Pilot
*
Beauford Delaney
Beauford Delaney (December 30, 1901 – March 26, 1979) was an American modernist painter. He is remembered for his work with the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his later works in abstract expressionism following his move ...
,
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
painter
*
Carole Fredericks
Carole Denise Fredericks (June 5, 1952 – June 7, 2001) was an American singer best known for her work in French music. She was the younger sister of Taj Mahal.
Between 1990 and 1996 she was in the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones alongside s ...
, singer
*
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...
, jazz musician
*
Chester Himes
Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include '' If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the Harlem Detective series of novels for which he is be ...
, crime novelist
*
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
, musician, composer, record producer
*
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...
, singer, actress, and entertainer
*
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk.
Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...
, rock musician
*
Ealy Mays, painter
*
Memphis Slim
John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...
, blues pianist and singer
*
Chloé Mortaud
Chloè Mortaud (born 19 September 1989, Lisieux, Calvados) is a French actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss France 2009. She represented the Albigeois Midi Pyrénées, a southwest region of France, and became the first winner of ...
, Miss France, 2009
*
Shaun Ollison, model, Ms. California 2000
*
Rashaan Nall, actor, director, screenwriter, painter
*
Lobo Nocho, jazz singer and painter who was romantically involved with Winston Churchill's daughter Sarah
*
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
, jazz musician
*
Tony Parker
William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A. Himself the son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career at Paris Basket Racing in ...
, basketball player for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets (born in Belgium, but raised in France)
*
Melvin Sanders
Melvin Ray Sanders (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs.
Professional career
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Sanders, a guard a ...
, professional basketball player
*
Victor Séjour
Juan Victor Séjour Marcou et Ferrand (June 2, 1817 – September 20, 1874) was an American Creole of color and expatriate writer. Born in New Orleans, he spent most of his career in Paris. His fiction and plays were written and published in Fr ...
, playwright
*
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...
, jazz and blues singer, a prominent leader during the American Civil Rights Movement
*
Ada "Bricktop" Smith, dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper
*
William Gardner Smith
William Gardner Smith (February 6, 1927 – November 5, 1974) was an American journalist, novelist, and editor. Smith is linked to the black social protest novel tradition of the 1940s and the 1950s, a movement that became synonymous with writ ...
, journalist, novelist, and editor
*
Henry Ossawa Tanner
Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist and the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian and gained acclaim in Fren ...
, painter
*
Dominique Wilkins
Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seven-time All ...
, NBA Hall of Famer (born in France while his father was stationed there with the U.S. Air Force)
*
Richard Wright, author of novels, short stories, and non-fiction
*
Amir Richardson
Michael Amir Richardson (born 24 January 2002) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Stade de Reims, Reims. Born in France, he represents the Morocco national football team, Morocco nationa ...
See also
*
Afro-French
*
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
*
Presidential Council for Africa The Presidential Council for Africa (french: Conseil Présidentiel pour l’Afrique}, CPA) is an advisory body founded by French president Emmanuel Macron in August 2017. The aim of the CPA is to provide independent advice to the French president o ...
*
Pondichéry
*
Americans in France
*
French Americans
French Americans or Franco-Americans (french: Franco-Américains), are citizens or nationals of the United States who identify themselves with having full or partial French or French-Canadian heritage, ethnicity and/or ancestral ties. Th ...
*
France-Gabon relations
References
External links
*Jenkins, Maureen.
African-Americans in Paris: 'It's always been about freedom for us'" ''
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
''. February 25, 2013.
{{African American topics
African-American society
African diaspora in France
American diaspora in Europe
Ethnic groups in France
Peoples of the African-American diaspora
People of African descent
American emigration